A Civilians Struggle
by Faveryy
Summary: When I opened my eyes and saw the four faces looking down upon me on the mountain, I had one thought run through my head. I was at Mount Rushmore. Those faces weren't of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, nor Roosevelt, however. [SI/OC] [AU] [Maybe slash? No clue]
1. A shock

_**This idea has been stuck in my head for months now and I'm just now getting around to doing something about it**_

_**Hopefully you enjoy this first chapter**_

* * *

The first time I opened my eyes in this world wasn't a special occasion

As it turns out, I didn't even know what was happening at that moment so it couldn't have been a special occasion

No, the first time I opened my eyes was a flurry of emotions, mostly consisting of confusion, screaming, and the subtle hint of 'What the absolute fuck was happening at this very given moment?'

Before you ask, screaming is indeed an emotion. If you say otherwise, you haven't lived a full life

Though, if I'm remembering correctly, neither have I

See, from the scraps that I have left, I've figured out that my name from before was Liam. I was a flight attendant for a local airline service in the southern part of New Mexico. Apparently, it was also home to a couple of cartels..

And I kinda pissed them off…

Anyways, long story short, I got dumped with the fish and brought here! No idea why though

My new name, as I'm still trying to get myself used to, is now Eichi. Japanese, I'm assuming, seeing the decorations and architecture of my new living space

The child who inhabited the body before this, from what I can tell, had an issue regarding his appendix. Before I died, it burst unexpectedly and the pain from it killed him in his sleep

When I realized that had happened, it came along with a fair bit of screaming and crying along with a visit to the hospital with a woman I didn't recognize, though at that point I was still in shock and had no idea what was happening

It was only after I woke up on the hospital bed and looked out of the window that I finally had a moment of clarity

'Mount Rushmore? When the hell did they build a hospital right outside there? And how the hell did I get from New Mexico to South Dakota?'

Then my eyes focused

'Wait… Is that?'

"Minato?"

* * *

"Eiji! It's time to get up!"

"Hrnnnnnnn…"

"EIJI! GET UP!"

_Thunk_

"Owww!"

"Shut up Honoka, I'm awake"

"Mou.. that's no fair Eiji! You cheated!"

Sitting before me right now was a girl of about 6 years of age with bright orange, curly hair and teal eyes, accompanied with a petite body. She reached a height of a little below four feet. Tall for her age

"Honoka, I just woke up, I don't care about being fair"

I guess it's finally time to describe myself properly. Greetings! My name is L-Eiji! Seven years old as of last week. I have short black hair with red eyes, reaching an impressive height of four and a half feet. (The stuff the matrons feed us here has to be some sort of growth serum..)

From my appearance, you probably immediately make the connection to an Uchiha with their Eyes activated? Psh, I wish. Nope, I'm just a regular civilian stuck at the orphanage.

"Cmon Eiji! It's recess time! We've gotta take back the swings from that bastard Garou!" Honoka shouted as she began to drag me across the floor towards the playground

As I'm sure you're wondering, I will explain what happened up to this moment

The doctors fixed up my appendix pretty easily, leaving me with a month of recovery time

When I got back to the place that woman took me from, I discovered it was an orphanage. Apparently my parents were killed on an escort mission by bandits

Who knew..

Anyways, from what I could tell when I got back, Eiji was pretty popular seeing as how three quarters of the place wanted to wish me a good recovery and health

Fun fact about myself : I'm socially awkward and cannot hold a conversation

It didn't take more than a month to lose over half of those 'Friends' and another two weeks for Honoka to be the only one left. I think the reason why she stayed was because of her Extrovert personality and the fact that nobody else wanted to be friends with her just like me

Not that I was complaining really. I would have gone pretty damn insane if I laid here by myself 24/7

In the time period between ages 2.5 and the current 7, I raided the library for everything it had. Mostly language books and literature but also history and politics

As it turns out, my predictions were right, not that I had any doubt that they were wrong

I was thrown into the world of Naruto. Presumably an AU too with how much detail there is on this history and political structure

Did you know that the Konoha Council is actually really similar to a President and his cabinet? It even has a sort of electoral college system with electing a new Hokage if the old one dies, becomes too old, or decides to pass on the mantle

Really kinda interesting..

On the other hand, the amount of battles and wars that were listed aside from the three great ones was kind of insane

Grass country was actually wiped out, burnt to the ground and reduced to cinders once. They managed to evacuate some people of the Kusa clan so they regrew the entire country in like a week

And the fact that there were at least 3 other continents beside the elemental nations? They were mostly filled with civilians and small time rogue ninjas but it goes to show how much shit Kishimoto didn't include in his works

"GAROU! I, HONOKA, CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL! ACCEPT YOU COWARD!"

Eh? We're finally outside? Great

"Haaah? Puny little strawberry and her friend wants their precious swings back! Do you hear that boys?"

A chorus of screaming little kids were heard from my limp position on the ground

"Cmon EijI! We need to show these guys a lesson!"

"Nnnnnnn-o"

"I'll do all of your chores for the next week and a half?"

A tempting offer…

"I'll also give you my pastries for the next thre-"

I cut her off

"Deal"

Did I happen to mention that the library had a few old training exercises from previous orphans who attended the academy? They were kinda shit but..

_Fwish_

"Huh?! How the hel- GAH!"

"How is he so fast?!"

"Run away!"

"It's not worth it!"

It's more than enough for simple fear tactics

"OOOOHHH! THAT WAS SO COOL EIJI!"

"Don't think this is over just yet, strawberry!"

Garou appeared from behind the group of running children and attempted a running charge. The thing with this kid is the way he was built. One word - "A motherfucking rhino"

Thats three, yes, I don't care

"Hup!"

I jumped over the speeding human cannon ball and did a sweeping kick under his feet, knocking him over before restraining his arms

"Listen, is this really worth the effort? It's just a damn swing"

"Shut up! You don't know anything!"

Ahh whatever, it's just a kid

_Thunk_

Damn this kid is built like a tree trunk…

"Wooo! That was AWESOME!"

Honoka ran up to me with sparkles in her eyes. I really did not care in the slightest. Even if I didn't have any sort of access to chakra, these were 8 year old little kids with no experience

Not really anything to worry about

* * *

_**Well then**_

**_First chapter _****_done_**

**_I guess I'll leave_**

1d6d98b76122c8f0d6a3e380de41e9ff


	2. A Moment of Peace

_**Wheeeee**_

* * *

So

Here I am

Walking down this empty road

Just for one thing

"Eiji! I knew you would come back! Here for another slice of my apple pie? Haha!"

Pastries

Hey! You can't blame me! The airport I worked at was next to this small bakery run by this old couple and they made the best apple strudel…

"Hey now, you don't need to drool to let me know how much you love my food!"

Eh?

Oh shit

Anyways, it's been at least 4 years since I had any sort of taste resembling their baking, so once I discovered this shop - Panlong - about two weeks ago, I've been trying to come back as much as possible, but with the allowance the matrons give me… that's only about once every two weeks

"Damn right old man, gimme a slice of that apple pie and a loaf of pistachio bread"

"Kid, I told you already, call me Kazuma. You're hurting my feelings by calling me old"

"Bah, you can handle it, _Old man _Kazuma"

The guy dropped to the floor, dramatically grabbing his heart as if a sword were just run through it

"Agh! You wound me, young one!"

"Shut up and give me my bread"

The grin on Kazuma's face was large enough to split a mountain in two as he stood back up and packaged a loaf in a To-Go bag

"So, I heard you were going to start the academy soon? How's that going?"

"Hah? Did Honoka tell you that? I mean, yeah, I'm starting in about a week or so. I don't truly know how I'm really feeling though.."

"Hmm? Why's that?"

Because it means I'm on track to become either a superpowered mass murdering sociopath, cannon fodder, or just a regular boring chunin, damn idiot

"Because it doesn't really seem all that interesting, you know? Becoming a Shinobi.."

Kazuma's grin dropped to microscopic smile. Despite the size, however, the amount of emotion packed into it was immense

"Boring, eh? Yeah.. I guess so.."

Did he fail to become a shinobi or something? I wonder..

"Here you go kid, bread's on the house this time"

"Eh? Are you sure old man?"

"Call me Kazuma, and yeah, I'm sure. Just promise me you'll take becoming a shinobi seriously, alright?"

I quirked an eyebrow and payed for the slice of pie. Damn right I was going to take it seriously! Did he think I was stupid?! He's the one who's stupid! I'm not going to be dying to Pein anytime soon, hear me!

Jeez.. Idiots

* * *

"Eiji! Are you excited? We're starting the academy tomorrow! AAAAHHH! THIS IS GONNA BE SO COOOOOL!"

Three guesses to who that was

"Honoka, please be quieter, or I'll be deaf by the time I hit 16"

"Bah! Don't be crazy! We've got chakra to heal oursel-"

_Bonk_

"OW! EIJI!"

"I told you to shut up. I also told you a million times, chakra is _not _the cure all for everything. It has its limitations"

The little orange glared at me with small tears in her eyes. I've long gotten used to the new Anime physics that exist in this reality.

"Cmon, we need to go train if we wanna get ahead"

This is what we've been doing for the past week or so. Honoka and I would go to a small training ground that nobody used anymore, bring some of the training pamphlets left in the Library and then do a bit of physical training as well as sparring before going scavenging around for spare materials

Fun Fact : These grounds are basically treasure troves of Kunai, Shuriken and other weapons if you look hard enough. I've gotten a total of 54 Kunai, 65 Shuriken, a tip off a small tanto, a pebble of what seemed like chakra metal, as well as a few small Kukri or senbon

"Are we gonna spar again? I'm gonna kick your butt!"

I sighed in exasperation as we finally reached the grounds. As usual, nobody seemed to have been occupying the space, meaning it was free to use

"Yes, we're going to spar, right now actually, as a warm up"

"WOOO! LET'S DO IT!"

Jeez this girl

We faced each other, making the seal of confrontation, before jumping back and getting into a basic stance

The academy style taijutsu was pretty much public for everyone. Seeing as how it was so universally known, it wasn't such a big deal, letting them access the basic forms

We stared at each other for a moment, measuring each others body language and reading our actions through eye contact

After a minute, Honoka finally couldn't wait and kicked towards me at around second year academy student speeds, throwing a punch to my chin

'Hmph, her extroverted personality and all of that energy makes her such a great match up..'

Before she could even react, I grabbed her wrist and threw her to the side, jumping to another spot away from where I was, waiting

That seemed to irritate her, seeing as how she got back right back up to sprint at me again

I never had any sort of Martial Arts training in my last life, no. But in these last few years, with the motivation of what's to happen in the future, I've been training my ass off

Honoka… lets just say she's a bit new

"Stay still!"

"Honoka, in battle, your opponent won't stay completely still so that they can let you hit them. In every battle, it's a fight to see who succumbs to their opponent the fastest"

Another blind punch, another throw

"Gah! I know that! It's so annoying though!"

This was the result for another hour. Honoka would run at me with blind attacks and I would catch her and throw her to the side while I ran away. Exhaustion is another way to win, even if it takes patience

Eventually, however, I got bored and dodged Honoka's last punch as she ran into a tree

"Stop! We're done!"

"Mouu! But I was gonna win.."

"No, you were not. I might be a whole lot faster than you, Honoka, but that's no excuse for the amount of mistakes you made during that spar. For one, did you even follow the Academy Style, at all?"

The sheepish look that appeared was all the answer I needed

"Look at me Honoka"

Her pouting face reluctantly made eye contact with me

"If you want to become stronger, you need to study and train. That's all there is to it. I don't care if it's boring or not interesting, but if you don't do one thing, then the thing that you _do _do is going to become utterly useless. You might be strong, but without a style to channel that strength, you are just a Cannonball shooting out into the far out ocean. Understand?"

She nodded, albeit slowly and very obviously reluctantly, but I could see the gears turn in her head

Hopefully this would serve as a lesson so she doesn't fail

Or worse..

* * *

_**Ah number two, fresh out the oven**_

_**Feel free to review or whatever. Another chapter should come out sometime this week**_

_**Hopefully..**_


	3. An Education

_**Chapter three lets goooo**_

* * *

There it was

The doors to my path as a Shinobi

I was here with Honoka, who had been silent ever since I gave that talk to her the day before, and one other kid from the orphanage that I never got the name of, but looked eerily similar to a background character..

"Oi, You three, get in here!"

The unmistakable voice of Iruka threw me off guard. He stood there in the doorway, looking a bit exasperated and tired, likely from handling paperwork and pulling a fair few all nighters for his first year teaching

Yeah, I actually heard it from the Matrons a few weeks back. They were talking about him like an old friend which made sense seeing as how he would take care of the other orphans a bit before my time here

Which means the Kyuubi attack happened around the time of the other Eiji's death. Maybe a year or so before hand, seeing as how buildings were still being cleaned out and reconstructed when I finally figured out what was actually happening

We all rushed inside after the scarred man said it, not waiting around and gawking anymore

_Thunk_

"Right, you three should be the last to arrive. Come on, I'll get you all sorted out"

Iruka began walking down the hall, leaving an unspoken 'Follow me closely' as he walked off

Our group followed him to a room on the far end of the building. He pointed at Honoka and I

"You two, this is your room"

Then at the third member

"You're coming with me to another room"

The kid looked back at us and waved goodbye before walking off with Iruka

_Knock Knock_

Honoka decided to take the initiative and knocked on the door first. We waited a few moments until a tall, brunette woman opened the door for us

"Ah, you must be Eiji and Honoka. You're late"

I didn't give her a response as I squeezed by and went to an open seat up the middle row. Honoka could be heard in the background apologizing for my behaviour

Looking around, the class seemed to be filled with mostly Civilians with the occasional Branch Hyuga or a Nara talking to a Yamanaka or Akimichi

Honoka finished up talking to Sensei and ran up to sit next to me

"Listen up! You can address me as Firu-Sensei, or just as Sensei, seeing as how I am going to be teaching you and turning you all into proper shinobi within the next four years you're going to learn here!"

"""Yes, Sensei!"""

"Good! Now, let's start off with role and Introductions. Ao-"

I tuned the whole class out after that point. No reason for me to remember the names of Civilians who won't be anything more than Chunin anyways…

There were a few kids that I paid attention to, however, like-

"Good morning everyone. My name is Hirou Hyuga, of the branch Hyuga Clan. I don't particularly have any likes or dislikes but my hobbies consist of Training in my family Taijutsu, the Gentle Fist, as well as my bloodline, the Byakugan. I also enjoy going to the nearby forests and finding different Animals and rocks with my Byakugan"

This guy might be a part of the Branch family but I could tell that he was as much of a prodigy as Neji or even higher. He must be holding back his skills..

Then there was-

"Hello! My name is Akira Wasanou! I don't come from any special sort of clan or anything, but I do have a new bloodline! The doctors say that they're still trying to figure out what it is though.. I like going out camping and seeing the stars in the sky at night, as well as my mom's cooking! I don't really dislike anything besides those little tiny gnats in the summer~"

And the last-

"My name is Hiruko. That's all you need to know…"

Hmm..

Hirou looked like your typical Hyuga. Long, brown hair with lavender, almost ghostly eyes. It didn't seem as though he was as stiff as the rest of them, however, which was a plus

Akira was just like Honoka. Scarily so.. The only difference that I could point out with just my eyes was their hair color. Honoka being an Orange, almost strawberry blonde, and long, while Akira almost looked like Konan with her Short blue hair

Hiruko was kind of a mystery. He could almost be compared to Zabuza in the looks department with that massive amount of bandages around his mouth and neck. Perhaps he was from Kiri, who knows..

"Fantastic. Now then, our first lesson for today - 'Why Konoha triumphed in The Battle of Jikan Mountain'"

..Great

* * *

"Hey! Ruby eyes! I'm talking to you!"

I ignored the kid shouting at me in the diner room of the Orphanage. If he didn't know my name, he didn't deserve my attention

"HEY! I'M TALKING TO YOU ASSHOLE!"

This muffin is pretty great…

_Thwak_

Oh, ok

"If you don't want that to happen again, you're gonna answer my questions.."

Well, might as well turn around and see who it was that just smacked me upside the head and ruined my muffin..

"Kino-kun! How nice to see you!"

The kid glared at me

"Don't call me 'Kino-kun' loser. Tell me why you got accepted into the academy and we didn't"

He gestured towards his group of lackeys standing behind him, trying their best to look intimidating

I put on a grin and stood up, a malevolent purple energy swirling around me

"I'll tell you why.. It's because I'm better than you, Kino_-kun"_

Kino grit his teeth and glared even harder. The lackeys looked ready to either run away or fight, though those who wanted to fight..

It wouldn't be for very long

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

_Thwak_

_Thump_

_CRKKK_

Everything happened in less than a second. Kino threw a blind punch towards my face

'No practice.. Pathetic..'

Of course, with all the sparring I did with Honoka, this was like waiting for a feather to fall onto my face from the bottom of a huge building

I ended up grabbing it out of the air, using the momentum to swing the kid a whole 270 degrees over me and onto the floor where I locked him there, dislocating his arm in the process

"Who do I think I am? _I think I'm the one who's training to be a ninja, not you"_

For extra measure, I dislocated his right wrist and his elbow.. Thoroughly

"Eiji! What the hel- KINO! EIJI, IN MY OFFICE, NOW!"

* * *

"What happened Eiji? What did the matron say?"

I walked out of the office to the sight of a curious Honoka

"Just Kino trying to be a prick again. Don't worry. As for what the Matron said.. I don't really want to talk about it right now.."

"Eh? Why not?"

"I don't feel like it Honoka. Let's go, it's almost bedtime anyways"

"_Tsk _Fine.."

Honoka relented and we went off towards the dorms

'She wants to reprimand _me _and punish only _me _after that? I guess I should prove to her it's not wise to play games…'

* * *

_**Another one**_

_**See ya'll in the next one**_

_**P.S - Be sure to review ;)**_


	4. A Challenge

"Happy Birthday!"

Hah?

In the middle of my bedroom, Honoka set up a small table. On that, she had a small cinnamon roll topped with a single green candle lighting up the dark room

"What the hell are you doing, Honoka?"

"It's your birthday! Did you forget~?"

I deadpanned at her. Honestly, I still didn't know when my birthday was, seeing as how nobody bothered celebrating it here. Pricks

This is the first celebration I've gotten in a long time

...Doesn't mean I'll acknowledge it

"Sure, I forgot"

_Yoink_

"Oi! Half of that is for me you know!"

Ugh, fine. Too much trouble arguing

"WOO!"

We bit into both halves of the bun with equal vigor, savoring each flavor..

Of course, that distracted us from the person who was watching us up in the corner, silent and deadly

'Who..?'

_Fwish_

Gone…

Must've been my imagination?

* * *

"QUIET!"

Jesus that big head jutsu is scary. Shut the whole class up for now, that's for sure..

"Thank you. Now then, today, we're going to start our lessons with Taijutsu as well as Shurikenjutsu before a brief lesson on the Battle of Komaeda in the First War. Any questions?"

Oh come on Sensei, you should know they won't speak up for anywhere from five minutes to half an hour after you shout like that

"Great! Follow me out to the yard, single file"

'Bah, this is going to be boring.. Though, it might give me a chance to see Hirou in action with the Gentle Fist.. Alright, we won't ditch today. Let's see this kid in action, shall we?

The class made it to the yard in deathly silence (I'm still confused at how Sensei is so good at that..) before lining up shoulder to shoulder

"Good. I'm going to call you all up by pairs. You don't need to worry, this won't be a grade. I'm just testing you for prior experience as well as natural skill and talent. If you lose, no big deal. If you win, it shows me you will need to be pushed"

Everyone murmured at that. Some (Most) of the kids were obviously nervous about fighting. The clan kids were silent and stood straight up. Their parents probably beat it into them, remembering the horrors of the most recent war

Sensei started calling up the Civilian kids first. The first match was between a Skinny brown haired boy with glasses with his opponent being a Lithe blonde girl, likely dieting and worrying about appearances over training. It's kinda insane how many of the Female Civilian population here does that sort of thing

You would think after the first few broken bones that they would learn something from each other…

Anyways, the match went exactly as you would expect. The boy hid away at the edges of the circle as the blonde jumped at him at a horrible attempt to intimidate. Still worked on him though..

Eventually, however, the match went on for too long, with both of them not having the courage to attack one another.

"Stop! Seichi, you need to work on building up your confidence and experience. That fear of yours will get yourself killed out on the battlefield. Hana, your dieting will end up stunting your growth as well as your potential as a Kunoichi. Step up your game and start taking this seriously or I will be forced to drop you from this program, Understood?"

The boy, Seichi (I'm going to end up forgetting that by the time we get back to the Orphanage) nodded solemnly and walked back to the line

The girl, Hana, however, obviously had a problem with how Sensei talked to her

"How dare you talk to me like that?! My father is the owner of the most profitable hair styling business in Konoha! I will have this _Academy _shut do-"

_Fwumph_

The air around Sensei burst as she let loose a wave of Killing Intent, freezing us all in place

'This is the first time I've experienced this sensation.. It's as if I had stage fright but multiplied by a hundredfold… Insane..'

And this was just from a Chunin. One that has more than likely fought and survived in the last war but still..

Hana, being quite understandable unused to the pressure, collapsed onto the ground as soon as it hit her, queuing all of her groupies to come and carry her off

"There will be no complaining in this yard. Am I understood?"

She was still facing towards the spot where Hana fainted however it was clear enough that it was towards all of us

"I'll take the silence as a 'Yes Ma'am'. Now I have to mark those other girls as absent.. Ah, I'll do it later. Who's up next? Ah, that's right!"

The next few matches went similarly to the first. There was one match where they actually threw hands at each other, earning a sigh of relief and a 'This class isn't completely doomed..' from Sensei, to which I both agreed to and was offended by at the same time

Eventually, it got to Honoka's match

"Honoka and Akira! Come up here"

The bluenette cheered in the background as Honoka and I glanced and nodded to one another

"Good Luck. Remember our training"

"Mm.."

* * *

_Honoka_

My first match that's not with big bro..

Jeez, I'm kinda nervous~

I walked up to the circle, seeing Akira already up there grinning like she won the lottery or something

We made the seal of confrontation right before Sensei yelled -

"Hajime!"

Immediately, we distanced ourselves. Akira's grin having disappeared and replaced with a serious look together with an unusual stance

I got into the Academy Style stance, looking for any openings, subsequently finding none.

We stood staring at each other for almost two minutes, silently waiting for either of us to break and open ourselves up. I desperately wanted to just run at her and attack her with all of my energy but Big Bro's words kept ringing in my head

'_You might be strong, but without a style to chanel that strength, you are just a Cannonball shooting out into the far out ocean'_

'I understand now, bro..'

Akira was visibly wearing down under the silence and stillness. She wanted to fight, and that was what was going to give me the match

"Agh! Attack me already!"

"Hahh? Why don't you do it? Or are you scared~~?"

Ohohoho, that got to her..

"You want me to start this fight? Fine then. Don't regret it.."

As soon as that last word left Akira's mouth, she shot towards me like a firework rocket, fist cocked back in preparation to launch me out of the ring

I ducked under her as she hit empty air, letting me throw an uppercut straight into her stomach, knocking the air out of her lungs

Rolling out from underneath Akari, I turned back around and delivered a hammer kick to her kneeling back, sending her to the ground

I jumped backwards, staring at the girl for any sort of movement, or sign that she was still conscious..

'..Finger..!'

Everything happened so quickly. The bluenette disappeared from her spot almost instantaneously, appearing behind me in a burst of wind

The kick that she delivered in the following moment was almost as bad as Big Bro's punches..

Its force, however, sent me flying straight out of the ring, right into one of the nearby trees, making a small dent in it and driving splinters along my back

"Winner by Opponent Ring Knockout! Akira! Great Job you two! Akira, don't underestimate your opponents and work on your patience as well as temper. Honoka riled you up and you allowed yourself to get injured and almost lost the match. Honoka, you need to work on your perception as well as speed! I could tell Akira was still awake from a hundred miles away. Again you two, a good match"

* * *

_Eiji_

The Chibi-Konan puffed up and Slouched over at the same time, somehow, after Sensei gave her the critique

Honoka was still lying on her head along the nearby Oak, likely still wondering what happened

Honestly, I'm proud of her. She's already come a long way from the blind attacker that she was, however Akira was too much, I suspect her Bloodline relates somewhat to speed, seeing as how even I had a hard time keeping up with her movements up there after she got back up

I kinda want to fight her..

But first

"Next match, Eiji versus Hirou! Get up here!"

This was going to be a challenge

* * *

_**Wrow**_

_**Another one**_

_**Weeeeee**_

_**(If you have any questions, be sure to leave them in a review. I'll be sure to answer any in the next chapter)**_


	5. A Match

"Hajime!"

Hirou wasted no time in rushing forward in his Gentle Fist stance, Byakugan eyes blazing to life

I was immediately forced on the defensive, forced to fortify my arms with my miniscule surface level chakra to keep from getting incapacitated by that damn Gentle Fist

The Hyuga wasn't afraid in getting up close and personal. I had to keep jumping away to avoid his strikes, putting me on the defensive until he opened himself up

"Why are you running, Eiji-San? This is a Taijutsu match, not a Warm-up exercise"

The smugness in this kids voice..

"Who said it wasn't a warm up? Damn.. am I going to fail?"

He wants to play with sarcasm? I'll give him some sarcasm

Hirou narrowed his white orbs, slowing down for a moment in the process

'A chance..!"

My legs sprinted into motion, cutting the distance between us in seconds and slapping a shocked look onto the kids face before I kneed him straight in the lower bladder

"GUH..!"

The force of it nearly knocked him outside the circle, but luck was clearly on his side as he landed mere millimeters away from loss

"Keheh.. This is pretty fun!"

I quirked an eyebrow. Why the hell is he laughing?

Then it hit me. Quite literally

"KEH!"

Just like with Akira and Honoka's match, Hirou came from out of nowhere, jabbing his chakra enhanced fingers into my arms and legs, dropping me to the ground in the matter of seconds

'Shit..!'

"Winner by incapacitation! Hirou! Another good match you two. Hirou, like I told Akira, try not to underestimate your opponents. That will get you _and _your teammates killed out in the battlefield. Otherwise, you have great Taijutsu instincts. I'll be sure to praise you when Hiashi comes by next week"

Hirou bowed with a small smile

"Eiji. Great idea fortifying yourself with Chakra, however, that only works with large reserves and dense chakra. And from what I could tell, you were only using the ambient chakra around you, which would have never defended you from Gentle Fist strikes. Trust me, I've tried. On another note, that reinforcement speaks highly of your chakra control. Work on building your reserves, speed, and control and you will probably become one of the best in Taijutsu. Hirou, do you mind…?"

The hyuga nodded and jabbed me a few times, making the feeling come back in my arms and legs before he held a hand out to me

"A good match. The most fun I've had in a fair while"

I chuckled and grabbed his hand as he lifted me back up to my feet, helping me in the process to walk

"Yeah.. I agree.."

"Friends, Eiji-San?"

I quirked an eyebrow at him, to which he responded by giving me a grin with his eyes closed

Sighing, I patted his back with my semi limp hand

"Sure"

* * *

The next few months went by like a flash

Class was a monotonous and repetitive task. The only interesting things that ever happened anymore were the Taijutsu and Shurikenjutsu classes. We weren't unlocking our Chakra or learning anything about it until second year, which was in and of itself a disadvantage

I desperately wanted to unlock my own reserves, however when I brought it up with Sensei..

Let's just say I reconsidered, ok?

Anyways, nothing really interesting happened for the rest of the semester

Well.. Except for that time..

* * *

We were in the middle of class, learning about the early life of old man Hashirama, when an ANBU Shunshined into the class, startling us

The ANBU walked up to Sensei, who was unfazed, and whispered something into her ear.

"Eiji! Honoka! The Hokage needs to see you. Oni here will escort you out"

Everyone in class started murmuring and giggling as the two of us walked down the isle of desks towards the still ANBU

The last thing we heard before disappearing were the sounds of Sensei yelling and the telltale sounds of someone's eardrums collapsing under the intense noise

Those eardrums might have been mine..

"Blurgh…"

"I apologize. The first time you Shunshin is always the worst. Especially as a side along. I will inform the Hokage of your arrival"

I gave him a Thumbs up as Honoka and I threw up in the bushes outside the door

"Enter"

Aw come on man, at least let me clean up..

"Ah! Honoka and Eiji! I was meaning to call you in for quite some time now, but the paperwork in here had it delayed until now. I hope you do understand"

Holy shit it's the Third Hokage in the flesh…

I strangely want to pull on his Goatee

Is that weird? Maybe, I don't care

"It's no problem sir. What did you need us for?"

"Oho! Yes, indeed, that's important, isn't it?"

The old man started to rummage through his desk, shuffling through stacks of papers

"Here we are"

He pulled out a stack of papers, paperclipped together

"What is that for sir?"

"These are the documents for your new apartment. Like I said, I had been meaning to meet you for some time now. Usually, all orphans who attend the academy and are on track to graduate are provided their own living space by the village until they have enough income to provide for themselves. The matron has told me that you two are practically inseparable so I figured I might as well save some space and put you two together"

I hummed. To be honest, I had wondered why we weren't given one of these sooner, seeing as how I had never seen any Academy Students for long at the orphanage. Honoka and I together is a plus as well. We'll have a partner for any training we do and I trust her enough to not allow any of my secrets out

"Thank you sir"

"Woah! Thanks Lord Hokage!"

"Ohoho! No need to thank me. I'm just doing my job. Oni will take you to your new apartment and tell Firu-San about the situation"

I bowed low as Honoka cheered in the background. This was good

Oni appeared behind us and put a hand on our backs before teleporting us away

Needless to say I threw up again..

* * *

The apartment Hiruzen gave us wasn't too big but then again, not small either. It was probably at least 1.5x the size of Naruto's. Not that I had any reference

Speaking of Naruto, I haven't seen him once in my time here. I wonder where he is…

Bah, we can think of that little shit later. For now, we have class to go to

Eugh

Class

* * *

_**Wheeee**_


	6. A Revelation

"You might already know, but today we are going to be learning the basics of chakra and unlocking the reserves of those of you who haven't already done so"

Oh thank you Sensei..

As soon as she said that, almost every single Civilian kid whooped for joy. The clan kids who already had their reserves unlocked were glad they had a free day basically

I, on the other hand, was silently thanking whatever kind of Deity or god whom was listening at the time. The whole chakra thing has been a huge bump in my training. Physical exercise and Taijutsu sparring can only get you so far in such a small amount of time and I do _not _have the same motivation as Guy and Lee

Seeing them run around, even from a distance, was.. Scary

We all followed Firu-Sensei out to the yard where she lined us all up shoulder to shoulder, just like her Taijutsu lessons

"Listen up! I will not explain this again! I will be going to each and every one of you, making sure your reserves are stable and healthy. I don't care if you're from a clan or are civilian born, if you don't have a stable network, there's a chance that those coils of yours could collapse and you would lose any chance of ever performing Ninjutsu or becoming a Ninja ever again"

That shut everyone up pretty quickly. The fact that something like that could cost them the chance to become a Ninja was a nightmarish fact to most if not all of them

Me included..

And so, she went down the line, helping to unlock everyone's chakra one by one. There were a few kids who had a couple problems regarding their coils and underlying network, nothing that couldn't be fixed, she assured

Then she came to Honoka

"Are you ready?"

The orangette gave a small, nervous nod. This was an important moment

Sensei sat down in front of her and held her hands

"I'm going to channel a bit of my reserves to jump start yours, alright? I want you to remember how it feels and replicate it"

Honoka didn't respond but it was obvious she understood

It took a moment of waiting, watching them sit there silent and unmoving.

Something finally happened after around the two minute mark

"Hot.."

Sensei opened her eyes in confusion

"Hot? What do you mean, Honoka?"

"I feel really hot.. Burning.."

Firu-Sensei put the back of her hand to Honoka's forehead, checking every bit of her face before sighing in relief

"What's wrong with her?" I asked

"Not to worry, Eiji. Her reserves are just larger than normal, making her feel warmer than usual. It should go away soon"

I nodded, glancing over to my friend. If something happened to her..

"Are you ready, Eiji?" Sensei snapped me out of my thoughts

"Ah.. Yes, Sensei"

"Good, I'm sure you remember what I said?"

A nod gave her the answer she needed

We both sat down in front of each other as she grabbed my hands and held them in hers. It took a moment, but eventually I could feel a wave of energy invade my hands and run up my arms towards my Stomach

It was.. Kind of amazing. I had felt the ambient chakra before while training and sparring, but this feeling was like comparing a hundred year old wrinkle to baby's skin

This sensation was almost like bathing in a Hot Spring with specialized jets while being fed your favorite food

I could see how Sasuke got addicted to Orochimaru's curse mark if this was the power he felt from normal chakra..

Trying to control the stuff was strangely easy. It bent and twisted to my will, flowing like well coordinated ants. I directed it to what I assumed to be my core, the largest source of the stuff in my own body

When it hit the bubble that encapsulated it..

Ho-ly shit

Honestly, I probably would have cried if this sensation were any better…

It was almost as if I opened a door to an air conditioned room, entering from the hot exterior, letting the cool air wash all over me. And that's exactly what I did. When the floodgates were released, I let the stuff almost encapsulate me, covering myself in the blissful substance

Then, I noticed something different. Usually, chakra should be blue. From what I remember anyways. The only exception would be the Biju with their red color, demonic chakra.

Mine however, from what I could tell, was colored green

Not teal, or some color that could be confused with that familiar light blue, no. It was the color of the Evergreen. A northern forest in the summer, almost a dark green

By this point, I'd be surprised if I wasn't crying in the real world

I tried looking at it more closely, but when I tried, unlike earlier, the substance wouldn't budge. Maybe it had something to do with my reincarnation?

Who knew..

"..Ji! Eiji!"

"Eh? Sensei?"

"Hoo, gods, you scared me. I thought your network had collapsed or you had fainted from the sudden surge. Don't scare me like that. I'm not keen on explaining to the medical nin why your network collapsed on my watch.."

Still out of it from the feeling and sudden shock, I dumbly nodded, making sensei smile

"Looks like you're ok. If you're feeling sick though, tell Hirou, right?"

I nodded again, almost hearing everything from that sentence. I just barely registered the feeling of Hirou's hand patting my shoulder

"I'll take care of him Sensei, you can tend to the others"

A mutual nod sent her off to the next student

I was still thinking about that strange coloration

'..What did it mean?'

* * *

As it turns out, my reserves were tiny

Like.. Miniscule

If you compared the amount I had to someone like Naruto or even Hashirama..? No, scratch that, you really couldn't

If I _had _to make a comparison, it would be like an ant to a cloud

There were advantages to that, as well as disadvantages

On the plus side, my control was very _very _good. If I wanted to learn Medical Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, it would be insanely easy and my elemental affinities (from what I understand) will be much easier to learn and control

It also means that I could suppress it very easily. If I was in a sticky situation out in the battlefield or in enemy territory, and was at risk of being caught, that would come very much in handy

On the downside, however, I'm probably never going to become a Ninjutsu specialist unless I find some way to massively enhance my Chakra. The only ways I can think of to do something like that is if I either learn the eight gates - which is a complete nono. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't want my limbs and muscles tearing themselves apart at a cellular level, nosiree. The other method is going to Orochimaru or taking his research and that is also a nono. That snake bastard can stay hiding away in his little holes for as long as he wants. Who knows, maybe during the Konoha Smash arc I can get a mission to the land of rice and infiltrate his place over there. It's either that or waiting until Sasuke kills the guy which seems kinda redundant in my opinion

Then there's the fact that any sort of training will take forever. Kakashi might have mentioned that Naruto's method of training was set up so only he could do it in canon but I was hoping that I could try something with that.

I had talked to Honoka about the size of hers and had brought it up with Akira and Hirou once after the test. Honoka had fairly large coils and dense chakra for her age, about the size of a Veteran Genin or someone akin to kid Sasuke during wave. Akira was just cusping the barrier between a graduating academy student and a fresh genin, likely a boost from whatever bloodline she had. Hirou, because he already had his coils opened up months if not years before hand, having plenty of time to train, has just about the same amount as Honoka

If you had to categorize me… I'm barely over the amount that the usual civilian had to keep them alive

Oh well. Hopefully I'll be able to do something with this tiny amount that I have

_Hopefully.._

* * *

_**Don't forget, if you have any questions, leave them in a comment, review, whatever the hell you want to call them**_

_**I really thrive off community interaction, so anything is fine with me, as long as I can answer it. ;)**_

_**On another note, Woooooo**_


	7. Interlude : A day of Confusion

My second to last year at the academy was the year of confusion

"We have a new student joining us today. I want you all to welcome her like you would any other person in this room. Understood?"

""Yes, Sensei!""

Firu-Sensei nodded and walked to the door, opening it so that we could see who was on the other side

It was a girl, of course. She was a little short, looking to be about three inches short of my 4'11. Her hazel eyes tracked the room with a sense of nervousness and fear, as if she felt like we were all going to laugh at her or something. The way her hair was tied up in two identical buns made me think that she was a bit familiar, but I had no idea where..

"Go ahead and introduce yourself.."

The girl seemed to freeze up a bit before taking a deep breath, her face steeling in front of all of us

"My name is Tenten Higurashi! It's nice to meet everyone"

She bowed low before turning back to Sensei

"Go ahead and sit wherever you want"

The girl walked up and glanced at me. I, however, didn't notice it in the slightest

'What the fuck is Tenten doing here?! I thought she was in the class two years below us with Neji and Lee? Who the hell is going to be in Team Guy now..?'

Then it hit me

'Would there even _be _a Team Guy now?'

This messed up my whole plan for the future. Who knows what differences could show up? What's next, Naruto and Sasuke are women? Maybe Orochimaru died in a hole somewhere? Hell, I haven't seen Mizuki in the three whole years I've been in this building. Maybe he's dead too?

Everything is fucked..

"Right. We'll be sure to catch you up on everything you need to know. For now, we'll be continuing our lecture on _Avoiding War and Navigating Politics _by our own Second Hokage. Take out a piece of paper and start taking notes…"

Needless to say, for the rest of class, I was not doing _anything _else productive

* * *

I stood by myself in Training ground 3 that night, wondering what else changed

'_How about Naruto and Sasuke? I haven't seen them at all this whole time. The rest of the Canon Characters? I haven't seen most of the Konoha 11 once. Actually, I've only seen Tenten…'_

I went through my head. What did I remember?

'_Ok. We can safely say the Nine Tails attacked as planned, seeing as how I can still see the results of Naruto's pranks around town and Sarutobi is the Hokage. The Hyuga? I don't recall the Kidnapping ever happening.. That could just mean that Hinata _was _kidnapped and we covered it up or I just haven't been looking hard enough..'_

There was a lot of stuff I could have looked up…

'_Uchiha Massacre? That.. should be happening next year… I _'Hope'. _I do know Lee and Neji are in the class below me in their first year, meaning Sasuke will join the year after… A year and a half? If I'm remembering right, it's about 7-8 years after Sasuke is born..'_

I honestly can't remember if it's then or when they graduate..

_Fuck…_

The sound of a river splashing cut me out of my frustration for a moment. I cut through the bushes towards the source of the noise

'_Isn't this the Naka River..?'_

"Damn villagers... they don't even try.."

About 30 meters away from my position sat a small, six or seven year old boy covered in cuts and bruises, washing the blood off from his body using the river water. The only things that made him stand out from his surroundings were the Neon Yellow hair, Blindingly orange Jumpsuit, and three whisker marks on each cheek

"I'll show them when I become Hokage…"

'_That.. just took a huge load off my mind. If Naruto is still Naruto, we still have a story. At least I hope so..'_

I could rest now that I knew we had some semblance left of a story in the future.. Hopefully I remembered when the Massacre would take place soon

* * *

_**This chapter is small, I know, and I apologize. I couldn't figure out how to bridge what I had planned with that last little bit so I just decided on turning it into an interlude. Next chap should come out later today or tomorrow, however, dw**_

_**Also - I do realize that Chakra is the mixture of Yang, Physical energy, and Yin, Spirtitual energy, and by this point he would have plenty of the both, meaning a bunch of chakra**_

_**However, that doesn't mean I have to follow that rule, nor does it mean Kishimoto has followed it either. Canon in Naruto is as shaky as a 9.0 Earthquake on a cold day. If it's not meant to be broken, then most of us have already failed**_

_**If you don't like that, oh well **__**¯\\_(**__**ツ**__**)_/¯**_


	8. A Discovery

The library

I finally had access to the damn thing

Not the shitty orphanage one. I lost access to that when I moved out. No, this was the Konoha Library. The one that housed almost every single Jutsu in Konoha as well as nearly 80% of the entire collection of history of the elemental nations, the rest being in Clan Libraries such as the Uchiha, Senju or Hyuuga, or in the Capital.

Honestly, this was a long time coming. I had asked Firu-Sensei about coming here a few times in the past, however she denied me every time I asked

..Bitch

Anyways! I'm only able to access the Civilian Archives and the Academy resources for now, seeing as how I'm.. just an academy student

"Hmm? A kid coming into the library this early? Don't see that very often.."

A small old woman from behind the desk came out of nowhere and almost made me shit myself.. She had a hair full of frizzly white hair with large circular glasses that made her brown eyes look gigantic.

"Damn old lady.. Don't do that!"

"Hah? What did you call me?"

A purple aura slowly built up behind her and a mysterious shadow draped itself over her eyes, making them glow an ominous red

"Ah? Haha! N-Nothing..!"

I scratched the back of my neck and wiped away the sweat that was rapidly forming on my face. The aura slowly dissipated, replacing itself with the old woman from before

"Bah.. The genin library and above is off limits, along with 'borrowing' books without permission, otherwise go nuts kid"

She got up on a high chair by one of the front windows and pulled out a book with a blank cover. As I was slowly leaving, I heard suspicious giggles

..Not gonna ask, no~pe

Back on topic, this place was honestly gigantic

Nothing compared to the Library of Alexandria, but still bigger than anything I've ever seen before

I decided to just look around for a while and see what caught my eye. There were likely no techniques besides the Academy 3 and some other D-Ranked in the academy section, but at the very least I could learn some obscure history and find out if anything else has changed

Firu-Sensei's lectures have helped a bit in that regard, but let's be honest - Have I really been paying attention to any of her classes? Really, I already knew the math she was teaching. I learned Calculus for god's sake woman! I don't need to relearn the order of operations!

Tangent aside (Heh, get it? Math joke..), it didn't take long for me to have a stack of books ready

"_The Rise and Fall of the Senju and their Knowledge. Jashinism - What's the big deal?, People you should know when coming to Konoha!.. _A nice ha- What's this?"

One of the books on the back shelve caught my eye. There was no cover or title on the thing, just a stack of paper being held together by some string, and it didn't feel any different from any other book, however it just drew me in like a cat to tuna

'_Strange…'_

I added the thing to the stack and went back up to the front where the old librarian was still giggling

_Damn perverts_

Dropping the books onto her desk was enough to snap her out of her book, which did not make her any happier, however she didn't say anything and started scanning the books out. She seemed to glance at the book without a cover a little longer than the rest of the books, but otherwise didn't say anything about it

"Academy Identification kid?"

Right that's important, isn't it?

I gave the lady my ID, which we got at the beginning of our second year. Don't worry, you aren't missing out on anything, the whole process was basically a less time consuming DMV experience

She wrapped up the books in a canvas bag before handing it to me, going back to her book without a word

I didn't question anything. I was not trying to talk to her any more than I had to

* * *

It's finally time that I start experimenting with my knowledge

By that, I mean chakra control exercises

I know what you're thinking - "But Eiji~ I thought you've had almost a year to do that~ Why haven't you done it already?"

Why the fuck would I mess with something I know almost nothing about, and a variation of it as well? Green chakra is _not _normal, no matter what you say to me

The way I see it, I've had a solid year to build up my skills in Taijutsu. I'm certainly not Might Guy, but almost nobody can beat me in Taijutsu besides Hirou and sometimes Akira. I haven't seen Hiruko at all to judge his skills, so he can be taken out of the picture for now at least

Back to what I was doing, however, I picked up a leaf from the ground nearby and sat down before slapping it on my forehead, holding it close, remembering what it felt like to have the miracle energy flowing through my body. As somewhat expected, the stuff obeyed and easily flew like flowing water to my forehead where it immediately felt warmer and fuzzier, like I got a hug from my crush and all that happiness flew into my forehead

When opening my eyes, it was as if the leaf were gorilla glued straight to my skull, skipping my skin all together

"..At least my theory is correct. This tiny amount shouldn't hinder my training too much. If it does, then Taijutsu might have to become my focus for the time being. Too bad really. I had hoped to be a ninjutsu specialist. I do wonder however.. Kabuto got that strong in canon just relying on medical ninjutsu, his connections with orochimaru as well as his general slippery nature… how far could I get with my prior knowledge and medical potential…?"

A worthy idea. The guy might've crashed shippuden into the ground before kaguya buried it, he was still smart. Edo Tensei'ng all of those ninja was a smart tactic

Snapping myself out of my thoughts, I began to realise how little chakra I had

The leaf was still stuck to my forehead

'_Eh? Ok, uh how do I do this.. The same as bringing it out?'_

I was trying to figure out how to unstick the stuff from this leaf but it was literally stuck as if it were welded to my face

The threat of chakra exhaustion was fast approaching..

'_Cmon cmon… Damni..it'_

The world was going gray. Ringing started in my ears

Was the grass always.. thi.. s.. close..?

_**Thnk**_

* * *

Hospitals

Suck

One of the genin teams who used the training grounds found me after I passed out and brought me over to the hospital. I was suffering from a minor case of chakra exhaustion and my pathways were strained

When I woke up, I had the _worst _migraine if all time. Honestly felt as if a rat burrowed into the center of my head

Well, at least it cemented the fact that I won't be able to specialize in any sort of Ninjutsu, unless I can find a way to increase my available reserves beyond this level

It made me curious, however. Chakra was supposed to be made from Yin and Yang - the spirit and body. I had expected my spirit to be pretty big after reincarnation and with the combo of my daily training for the vast majority of the time I've been here, it was expected that I would have had a pretty sizeable amount at my disposal

And that put me off. This green coloring somehow had something to do with it. I don't know what, but I was going to find out


	9. A Night

"Oi! Eiji-Nii! Turn off that light, I'm trying to sleep!"

"Haah? No. Come up here and do it yourself. I'm just trying to study, y'know"

A hmph was heard from the bunk below, however I didn't get a response other than some faint shuffling

Damn girl..

On another note, I finally got around to reading these books that I checked out. I had been entirely focused on increasing my reserves and practicing the Academy three to even remember I had these things

The theory behind most of them were also pretty interesting, and the history books were even more. There was a shinobi back around 200 years ago that could literally create physical genjutsu. Another who was said to have had as much chakra as Chomei, the seven tailed beast

I had tried looking up the people who had created the seven swords as well as the clan heads of the major clans during Hashirama's time, however that was a dead end, seeing as how one of the two hokage had them either erased from existence or just hid the info

It really helped in my practicing the academy three as well. Seeing as how I had no concept of Jutsu before this year, other than the anime and manga, the descriptions and details were a great boon

I still haven't even gotten into that coverless book yet..

"Speaking of that book.."

"Shut up!"

"No need to be rude Honoka~"

She let out a growl, letting the silence return

I pulled out the coverless novel, staring at it for a few seconds before flipping it open

_Juinjutsu #1_

Juinjutsu? Like a curse seal? Who the hell wrote this?

Then I noticed

_Orochimaru of the Sannin_

With a crude chibi drawing of the snake, throwing a thumbs up towards me, in the corner of the page

'_Orochimaru, eh? ..Let's see what he has in store'_

I wasn't about to throw out the journal just because of who wrote it. Orochimaru is a genius and whatever he's bound to have written in here is going to be useful, especially later..

_Journal Entry One_

_Sarutobi-Sensei started our lessons on Fuinjutsu last week. After he went over the concept of Juinjutsu, I was intrigued and decided to do a little digging utilizing the pass Sensei had given us in case of the need to self study. I never imagined how broad this area of study encompassed! The sheer amount of uses these curse seals could be utilized for is just maddening!_

_I wonder.. The concept of immortality isn't very far away now that I have this.._

Hmm

Seems this sent him spiralling further down the rabbit hole

_Journal Entry Seven_

_This field is so wonderful! I haven't felt this alive in years!_

_I've discovered a way to apply physical enhancements via the use of these seals, at the cost of an immense amount of chakra, as well as some sort of pattern that enhances the lifespan of a person at the same cost_

_Now I know, the concept of immortality isn't far away now. I can practically taste it.._

The snake drew concepts of the seals he was working with on the next pages, not that I understood any of it. I had only knowingly picked up one book on seals and I was not that far into it to understand all of the seals I looked at

Maybe soon..

_Journal Entry Twenty Four_

_I really must thank Sarutobi-Sensei immensely for introducing me into this field_

_My theories are coming along nicely, and I've finally finished the prototype _"Curse Seal of Earth" _not just one day ago. I haven't had the opportunity to try live testing, however I do have someone who has caught my eye.._

_Hmm.. I do hope this prototype works as intended. Strength to rival Tsunade and a healing factor to match a Jinchuuriki would be useful and it would be very troublesome to scrap the entire concept_

I guess this was before he had Anko under him as an apprentice. It is also useful that he left the prototype, albeit, more than likely a faulty one that will probably liquify my body as if I opened the Lost Ark, but a prototype nonetheless

_Journal Entry Seventy Nine_

_My experiments are progressing… well.. They're progressing_

_Anko-Chan is being a wonderful subordinate so far. I do so enjoy the girl's company_

_The latest batches of the Earth seal have failed, however, and samples of pure Hashirama cells are running thin_

_I've only seen a few of the orphans react.. 'Positively' towards the injection of the cells. Codenames, Karue, Tenzo, and Risa. I do have high hopes for Tenzo.._

An entry from the creation of Yamato? Wait a seco-

Yes!

He left his notes on the experiments!

God you idiot Orochimaru! A genius, but an Idiot! Haha!

It's pretty useless unless I can get the tools and minds necessary for this kind of procedure, but it's going to be a godsend once I can

Hopefully before Kaguya gets here, that's for sure..

_Journal Entry One Hundred Eighty Four_

_As I had expected, Tenzo reacted splendidly towards the samples. Perhaps a little too well, seeing as how he's now in the hands of Danzo, but that doesn't matter at the moment_

_What does matter, is the new seals that I have created_

_The cursed seal of earth has been completed, as of this morning. I tested it on little Anko-Chan, transferring it via_ _bite right onto the nape of her neck. It was a risk, seeing as how nearly one in twenty victims ever survive, and only a fraction of those survivors can actually harness the power of the seal with minimal adverse effects_

_Risks pay off, seeing as how she woke up the next morning, albeit with some minor memory loss from the procedure. The violence added by the seal was too much for her to handle, making her attack me in a rage. I.. ultimately had to flee the lab in fear of being discovered by Sensei. It's not time yet_

_Not until I've milked everything I can from this place…_

Oh?

Orochimaru hadn't gotten everything he wanted before being forced out by the fourth? And the third, I believe

Interesting. I know he manipulated people, Mizuki most noteworthy, to steal things like the scroll of sealing for him, but I wonder if there was anything else he wanted. Or rather, still wants

Hmph

I think this is enough for now

Though, the thought kept running through my head

'_Juinjutsu.._ _How can I utilize you, to your fullest potential?_'

* * *

_**Juinjutsu and Orochimaru's old Journal!**_

_**Before you ask what it was doing in the library, of all places, and not his lab, a hidden base or like, being turned into ashes by the third - multiple reasons, most of which I cannot share just yet. Just know, it has to do with outside interference**_

_**Thanks**_


	10. A Ripple

"_Connect the Helix array with the Gavarian Finch Lines…"_

"_Intersect those two Tesla Rays.."_

"_Don't forget the Blue Horania Arrays…"_

"Oi! Get ready!"

I was interrupted by an irate Honoka smacking me upside the head, narrowly making me miss the unfinished seal I was working on on my desk

"Oi my ass! You could have just blown us both up!"

"Shut it, that thing wouldn't have dont shit. Get ready, we have team assignments today. Or did you forget?"

My mind stopped for a moment as I flipped through my memories, sure enough finding out that team assignments were indeed set one hour from now

The shunshin to the bathroom almost blew off all of my papers and notes..

After a quick shower and an attempt to cover up the bags under my eyes _(giving up after a minute of nothing happening) _we both ran out of the door to class

In case you're wondering, the graduation exam was a breeze. From the point on after opening up our chakra pathways, training got almost laughably easy - of course making me up it immensely. Seeing as how I wasn't going to be specializing in Ninjutsu, I put all of my time into Taijutsu, Bukijutsu, as well as Fuinjutsu. That seal I was working on was a 'modified' storage tag. Not any better than what you could get in shops for a few thousand Ryo, but good practice

Anyways, the only Ninjutsu I practiced were the academy three. The henge was really my only issue, having a hard time memorizing how people looked at every detail. Closest I could get was Firu-Sensei seeing as how I had been staring at her every day for the past four damn years

"You two! Almost late! Be more professional next time. You're ninja!"

Speak of the devil…

"If we were allowed to jump across the rooftops, we would've had time to spare, Firu-Sensei~"

I was shut up by the glare sent our way, heeding the silent command to shut up and sit in our seats

"_Late again? I feel sorry for your future teammates…" _was the first thing out of Hirou's mouth as soon as I sat down

"_Shut it. At least I'm better than Kakashi"_

"_Kakashi?"_

"_Bah, nevermind. Shut up though"_

We were left smirking at each other as Firu called role

Continuing on from before. The other two of the A.3 were not too difficult. The clone was easy, in the fact that all I had to do was increase my reserves a little bit to get to the needed three (for the extra credit of course)

The Kawarimi? Well, you saw me use a Shunshin - which by the way was such an accomplishment - what do you think?

"Now then, listen up! I won't be repeating this again!"

The class went silent

"I'm not going to give you all a sappy speech. You should all know what it means to be a ninja. If not, your deaths will be quick"

I could tell who wasn't ready by who started sweating profusely at that.

"I'll be announcing teams now! Listen well"

I tuned out, immediately. The class was mostly civilians and the occasional clan member. I really didn't care about anyone else than my group

"..Team 9! Hirou Hyuuga, Honoka, and Tenten Higurashi. Sensei is Hisa Hyuuga!"

Well shit

"Team 10! Akira Wasanou, Hiruko, and Eiji! Sensei is Might Guy!"

...Son of a fucking bitch

* * *

The class was empty, everyone having already been taken away by their respective Jonin sensei. Honoka had tried to say goodbye to me multiple times, however I was too lost in my thoughts to reply back to her

Even now, I still was

_Ok…_

_No big deal.._

_I'm only just paired up with one of the strongest characters in Naruto…_

_Definitely have _not _just irreversibly ruined canon, no siree_

"YOUUUUUUTH!"

_Add onto the fact that I'm paired with Akira and the little Sasuke clone, it doesn't make things any better_

_Hnnnnnnnnn_

"OHOHO! I can see that this year's students need to fan their flames of YOUTH! Meet me at training ground 4 in 5 minutes my youthful students!"

I never even noticed him enter or leave the classroom as Guy said that. I shook my head in frustration, letting out a heavy sigh before opening the window next to me and disappeared in a swirl of leaves, Hiruko surprising me by following right after me in his own shunshin, leaving Akira alone in the empty academy classroom

She blinked once

Twice..

"Eh?"

"Wait for me!"

* * *

Words could not describe how nervous I was at this moment

_If I couldn't get this team to make Chunin by Next years graduation, Canon will not be able to be recovered.. _

At all

_I'm basically replacing both Neji and Lee. Both of whom are essential for the Konoha Crush arc, and basically most of the series after that. If Lee isn't here, he won't have a chance to go up against Gaara, nor will he learn the eight gates, which - who knows what that'll do to the great war - if it even happens in the first place.._

_Neji as well. He was the reason why Naruto trained as hard as he did for the finals. Hell, if he doesn't almost kill Hinata… Would they even get together at that point?_

_No_

_They would still get together no matter what. That's a ship that can't just be broken like that_

_But still, the butterfly effect that would happen without those two around - trained by Guy as well - would be catastrophic. Tenten.. I'm not sure really. She might be fine under the Hyuga but.. _

_Hell, I shouldn't be complaining this much, my presence in this world was bound to make some ripples eventually.._

"..Ji.. Oi! You hear what Guy sensei said? Introduce yourself. You know, likes, dislikes,stuff like that?"

I raised my head and saw the expectant face of Guy, Akira's annoyed face and the deadpan of Hiruko

"Oh.. Eh.. My name is Eiji" I bowed slightly "No last name, Orphan"

Guy's face gained a hint of pity to it. Likely remembering the Kyuubi incident. Not that I really cared

"Uhh.. I guess I like my roommate - Honoka, Reading, Watching the clouds pass by.. Stuff like that. I don't necessarily not like anything.. I do have a hobby for practicing Fuinjutsu, specifically Juinjutsu." Guy's eyes hardened at that mention. I could tell he was going to want to talk to me about that little tidbit. Not that I minded - better to get it out now than later and make em not trust me

"I guess a dream of mine..? To become strong. Stronger than the ANBU, stronger than the Kage.. Stronger than anyone"

Silence reigned for a few moments, making the air uncomfortable. I guess I said that a little too super villain-esque for their liking. Meh

Guy's booming laughter cut the tension

"HAHA! YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN BRIGHTLY, YOUNG EIJI! An admirable dream, I must say! Just be careful how you use that power, hm?"

I grinned and nodded at him, making his smile somehow sparkle brighter before he turned to Hiruko

"You next!"

Not gonna lie, I was a little interested to see what he was going to say. The kid hadn't spoken more than 10 words since we started the academy. Hell, I don't even know how powerful he is, seeing as how he never showed up for any of the Spars or Shurikenjutsu practices that we had

I mean, now that I think about it, we were the team 7 of this generation, weren't we? I, somehow, stole the Rookie of the Year position from Hirou by a few points - my taijutsu and shurikenjutsu having just beaten him by that narrow margin. Akira

Only reason why Honoka didn't get it was because of her control, damn chakra tank..

Hiruko had become the dead last just because of his lack of attendance. So I wonder..

"My name is Hiruko"

HIs voice came out smooth and flowing, like honey. It made me wonder if he ever spoke more than 100 words in his life

"I don't particularly like anything.. Neither do I really dislike anything"

A pause as he scratched his chin, looking down at the ground

"My hobbies? I do like making puppets, if that counts?"

Eh? A puppet master? Well then.. Guy seemed to have the same reaction I had, with the glint that flashed through his eyes

"A dream.. I guess.. Is the same as Eiiji-San's dream. To become strong. And to protect.. Those who are not able to protect themselves.."

Oh?

An idealist?

It seems like this will be fun, hehe

A grin flashed across Guy's face as he nodded towards the now silent Hiruko, not saying anything as he turned to Akira, seated to my left

She took that as permission to go ahead, of course

"Good morning! My name is Akira Wasanou! Hmm.. My likes.. I guess number one would be my family! Then it would be my friends - Hirou, Honoka, Eiji and everyone. Dislikes? Fish! I _hate _fish!"

She did. I tried taking her to a sushi place once with the gang and she almost ripped my hair out of my skull, shouting things like "I will rip your heart out and feed it to the sun gods" or "Your hair will make a nice wig"

Never again have I tried feeding her fish

_Never_

"A hobby of mine is exploring! I love to find new things and learn their history!"

God she was such a history freak. I'm pretty sure she knows more about the history of this world than me, and that's saying a lot

"I don't really have a dream… but if I had to make one, it would be finding out what my bloodline can truly do~"

She finished off with a large grin and a nod, verifying that it was her dream either to us or to herself

Guy looked down at us from his spot on a large boulder. At one point I thought he had died or something with how he wasn't moving until a large grin broke out on his face

"**YOUTH!"**

Ow my ears

"I almost want to pass you all right here and now! But orders are orders" Guy slumped over and a raincloud almost seemed to appear and start raining over his head for a few moments

"What orders, Guy-Sensei?" Akira asked

"A test. I must test you all to make sure you are all ready to be Genin"

Hiruko quirked an eyebrow while Akira's face paled. I didn't show a visible reaction because I had already known about this, of course

"Aren't we already Genin, sensei?"

He shook his head

"No. Not yet. Do not worry, my test is not too difficult, not like my Eternal Rival Kakashi's test! Mine is designed to test your FLAMES OF _YOUTH!"_

I should probably start bringing ear plugs to the training grounds, shouldn't I?

"Meet me here at Three A.M tomorrow! That is all for today!"

Guy flashed a grin at us before disappearing completely

I looked over to the other two

"Make sure you each have a full breakfast. Do some research on him and don't train too hard tonight. I'm off to do some of my own"

"Eh? Waitwaitwait!" Akira stopped me. It seemed Hiruko stood up halfway through to do the same thing

"Hmm? What's up"

"How come you're so calm? He just said that we weren't full fledged genin yet! We might be sent back to the academy!"

"Because I already knew about the test..?"

It really wasn't that hard to find out

"HAH?! WHERE?!"

Ok, before heading home I'm buying ear plugs, I dont give a fuck

"The library? Where you can find pretty much anything?"

I removed the bluenettes hand from my arm while she froze from the sudden realization

"Wait, when did you gain access to the library? I thought you could only get a card to open up the books once you were 13?" Hiruko stepped up and spoke himself

"I bribed Firu. That's all you need to know"

They didn't get to say anything else as I left in a Shunshin, sending me to the front door of my apartment

"I'm home!"

"OH! EIJI!"

Honoka ran out from the livingroom, a large grin on her face

"Hisa-Sensei is so cool! She has this cool bloodline, right? The same one as Hirou! She took us out to training ground four and went _Pew Pew! 'I'm the most powerful jonin in the village, fear me!" _and the rest of us were like "_Oh no! Don't kill us Hisa-Sama~~! We'll serve you for the rest of our lives" _Then she laughed all evilly and said "_Good.." _in this deep and menacing voice..."

"Ok ok, chill out. Start from the beginning"

The huge smile on her face was all I needed to see as I realized I wasn't getting any training done tonight

* * *

**Sorry for the late upload everyone! I got kinda stuck on this and one of my other fics so I took a small break!**

**Be sure to leave a review if you have any questions or concerns!**

**See ya'll in the next one!**


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